CLEVELAND, MISS. – In a hard-fought defensive battle at the Walter Sillers Coliseum on Saturday afternoon, the Lee University women's basketball team outscored the host Delta State University team 16-13 in the fourth period to force overtime and then 7-3 in the extra five minutes to post the 50-46 GSC victory.
The win gave the Lady Flames an important split in the two-game Mississippi trip and improved their record to 5-4 in conference play and 9-5 overall. The host Lady Statesmen dropped to 6-4, 8-7. Lee returns to Walker Arena on Thursday evening and will collide with rival Union University in the opening game of a doubleheader which will begin at 5:30.
The Lady Flames got off to a 13-8 lead after one period of play, but points were hard to come by in the next two periods. Delta State held Lee to only nine points in the second frame, and the low-scoring contest was deadlocked at 22 at halftime. The third stanza featured only five markers being posted by the Lady Flames and eight by the host club. Lee trailed 30-27 heading into the last 10 minutes.
The Lady Statesmen grabbed a 40-33 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the contest and appeared to have the Lady Flames in serious trouble. That's when Bailey Burgess came up with two of the biggest 3-point shots of her career and cut the Delta State lead to 40-39. Lee struggled at the charity stripe most of the game but Libby Privett nailed a pair of freebies to put Lee on top 41-40 with 1:29 remaining.
The Lady Statesmen went back on top before Privett scored again and tied the game at 43. Lee had one final opportunity to win the game in regulation but failed on the opportunity and sent the battle into overtime.
The OT saw the Lady Flames quickly jump on top on baskets by Privett and a pair by Anna Muhonen. Lee outscored the Lady Statesmen 7-3 in the extra period to claim the important win.
Muhonen finished with a hard-fought 20 points and nine rebounds as she faced double-teamed pressure in most of the contest. The points and rebounds gave Muhonen over 1000 career points and over 500 career rebounds.
Privett finished strong and added 14 points and also nine boards. Overall, Lee won the rebounding battle 42-39. However, the final show belonged to Burgess with three 3-pointers. Callie Brewer made Lee's only other trey. Overall, the Lady Flames shot 33% from the field (16-of-49) and 4-of-12 from beyond the arc (33%). They struggled from the free-throw line, 14-of-23 (61%).
The Lady Statesmen shared the scoring load with Alyse Holliman being the only player in double figures with 19 points. She was also the rebounding leader with nine. Delta State shot only 29% overall (16-of-55) and just 12.5% from 3-point range. Like the Lady Flames, they struggled at the line, connecting on 12-of-20 (60%). Both teams were hampered by turnovers. Lee had 21 and the Lady Statesmen 19. There were a total of 44 fouls called in the physical contest.
Coach Marty Rowe's thoughts:
"This was a really good response from our team. It was not pretty, but we hung in and fought together and that's all we expect. Results will take care of themselves if we do that. Bailey made a couple of big shots that shifted the momentum in that fourth quarter but we had multiple people step up in big moments and make plays. Coming out of this trip with a win will be a big confidence burst for our group."
